Board of Health

BOH MEETING MINUTES 03-07-2022 Council Committee Room, 140 Main Street Jim Griffin, Chair Joseph Tennyson, MD, Vice-Chair Phillip Short (absent) Also in attendance: Director John Garside and Clerk Tina Nolin The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm. Reading and Approval of Minutes • Minutes for the February 7, 2022 meeting: Vice-Chair Tennyson motioned to approve and place the minutes on file. Chairman Griffin seconded the motion; the motion passed with a 2- 0 vote. New Business • Discussion & Update of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Director Garside updated the Board on the recent activities of the Health Department regarding COVID-19. COVID-19 Cases Today, there are 11 active cases in the city, the lowest seen since July 2020. Given the prevalence of rapid in-home tests, these numbers may be somewhat undervalued; but things are slowing down. The presence of COVID-19 in the wastewater remains very low. In addition, our positivity continues to decline and is at 2.26%. Marlborough Public Schools have 11 cases, down from a high of 81 on January 6, 2022. AMSA has one case, and Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School has zero. Vaccinations: 85% of eligible Marlborough residents have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose; this is up 1% from when the Board met last month. Therefore, 74% of our eligible population is fully vaccinated. Clinic outreach activities: Since the last Board meeting, the department has held two more pop-up clinics, one at Dunkin Donuts (330 Boston Post Road East) and the second at Welly’s Restaurant (153 Main St.) The department will continue to look for partners to host pop-up clinics. Additionally, the department continues to offer clinics every Wednesday at City Hall from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm.  Board of Health Minutes March 7, 2022, P a g e | 2 Vice-Chair Tennyson reported on the hospital cases, citing there are currently three patients in the hospital with COVID-19, all in the ICU. The hospital’s positivity rating among patients is 1.6% over a 7-day average. The Rt estimate for today, March 7, 2022, is .086, still below 1.0 but not as nice as last month’s .045. Director’s Update Stop the Spread, which the hospital has been running out of the New England Sports Center, will end this month on March 31. The State will be continuing the program among nine communities, but Marlborough is not one of them. However, the State is giving the city about 2800 Rapid In- Home Test Kits to give to residents and businesses in the community. The department still has some on hand and will push to get them out to residents. Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School adopted a mask-optional policy on February 28, 2022. AMSA did the same today (March 7), and MPS has a recommendation from the School Superintendent to do the same. The committee will be meeting on March 8 to make its final decision. The Mayor, and City Council, instituted a $500 stipend for full-time employees who are fully vaccinated and boosted. The payment will be made on or around June 1 and September 1. Part- time employees will be given $250. A couple of new restaurants will be opening in the next few months. The Halfway Café is in the process of being sold to Trinidad Estrella LLC, DBA Yevette’s Mexican Grill & Cantina. They are still early in the process but have begun applying for their alcohol license. Raising Cane’s, which is to be located near McDonald’s on Boston Post Road West, has received approval for its special permit, and its site plan has been approved. Finally, Denny’s Liquors will be opening in the Dollar Tree Store location at the RK Plaza on the city’s west side. Regarding the sewer connection ordinance, Director Garside reported that he expected several applicants seeking variances to appear before the Board shortly. He reminded the Board that the standard for the variance is that full compliance would cause “manifest injustice to the applicant and that the awarded variance does not contradict the spirit of the law or the ordinance.” Director Garside reviewed the variance application and information needed from the applicant, stating there is quite a process for applicants to apply, and a large amount of information is requested, so the Board should have plenty of information to help them decide. Scheduling of Next Meeting The Board’s next regular monthly meeting will be on Monday, April 4, at 6:30 pm. ADJOURN  Board of Health Minutes March 7, 2022, P a g e | 3 Chairman Tennyson motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:03 pm; Vice-Chairman Tennyson seconded the motion. The motion passed with a 2-0 vote. Respectfully submitted, April 4, 2022 James H. Griffin Dated Cc: Board of Health Members City Council, City Clerk, and City of Marlborough Website